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Table of Contents
Title
Physics Of A BasketballProblem Scenario
I wanted to understand the differences of a girls basketball and a boys basketball.
Broad Question
Does the physical differences between girls basketball and a boys basketball effect it?Specific Question
Does ball type effect height of bounce?Hypothesis
Yes, I think the girls and boys will have differences in bounce height.
Graph of Hypothesis
Variables
Independent Variable:
Ball Type
Dependent Variable:
Bounce, Distance
Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Surface, Temperature, Location, Air Pressure, time, Amount of Trials
Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
General Plan
My general plan is to take girls and boys basketballs and test the physical differences by doing three different experiments. I am testing ifa girls or boys ball bounce higher when dropped, and if a girls or boys ball rolls farther.
Potential Problems And Solutions
A potential problem is measuring volume of a basketball. My solution is to use a big overflow cup and measure the water that is displaced when I placing the basketball in the water.Safety Or Environmental Concerns
There will probably not be any safety concerns although a ball could hit someone while testing. There are not any environmental concerns.Experimental Design
Controlled, manipulated experiment
What is your experimental unit?
A boys basketball and a girls basketballNumber Of Trials:
10Number Of Subjects In Each trial:
2Number of Observations:
1When data will be collected?:
3/2 3/3 3/4Where will data be collected?:
HomeResources and Budget Table
Detailed Procedure
1. Collect materials
2. Blow up 10 boys and 10 girls balls with the same air pressure
3. Get the volume and mass of all of the balls
4. Drop a ball from a certain a height
5. Measure how high it bounced
6. Record data in a notebook
7. Repeat steps 4-6 with all of the basketballs
Diagram
Photo List
Girls and Boys balls being droppedTime Line
Wiki spaces done to the data table 2/1Begin experiment 2/4
Analysis 3/7
Discussion/background 3/15
Wiki complete 3/15
Poster complete 3/22
Data Tables
Data Analysis
All Raw Data
Photos
Results
The results show that boys basketballs bounce higher when dropped. The boys ball bounced an average 6.1 feet in height. The girls ball bounced 5.5 feet in height. The graph also shows that the average discrepancy between the girls and boys basketball was .6 feet.
Conclusion
The answer to my specific question "Does ball type effect bounce height?", is yes. My data does support my hypothesis;
"I think the girls and boys will have differences in bounce height" The average bounce height for boys balls was 6.1 feet. The average bounce height for girls was 5.5 feet. The average discrepancy between boys and girls balls was .6 feet, which is a pretty big different. So, yes the ball type did effect the bounce height.
Discussion
The data shows that the girls basketball when dropped stayed all in the range of the 5 foot area, and the boys basketball stayed in the range of 6 feet. The relationship between the independent and dependent variable is very strong because the ball type effects the bounce. Yes, I was able to answer the experiment question which was, " Does ball type affect the bounce." The answer to that is yes because the size matters the bigger the ball the higher it will bounce. The average mass for a girls basketball was 515 grams. The average mass for a boys basketball was 605 grams. The boys basketball is a lot bigger and a lot heavier, so that could be a reason why the boys ball bounces higher. The boys basketball also has a larger volume. The data could help others if they were trying to figure out which one is better for bounce.The people who could use the information in the real world are kids,basketball player, coaches,and etc. To make this experiment better I could do more trials or have more specific questions to test the broad question in different ways and gain more knowledge about basketballs and basketball, the game. My science project is kind of helpful for the people and society because it will tell which basketball is the best for the people who like to know or want to understand which basketball is better for them and the game of basketball. It will also help coaches possibly coach differently based on the knowledge they have about the differences between the basketballs.
Benefit to Community and/or Science
This experiment could benefit the community and science. It benefits the community by telling which basketball is the best for the people who like to know or want to understand which basketball is better for them and the game of basketball. It will also help coaches possibly coach differently based on the knowledge they have about the differences between the basketballs.Then for science it would help so the if they had to do a science project about basketballs they would already have some information about the balls, bounce, volume and elasticity.
Background Research
Basketballs are a spherical inflated ball used in the in the game of basketball. Most people think basketballs are made from pigskin but the outer surface is made from leather, rubber or a synthetic material. Inside basketballs have an inflatable bladder and then many layers.
The black lines on a basketball are called seams and they are helpful in several reasons which are they cover the stitches for the basketball, and they help the basketball players improve the grip and make it easier to dribble and shoot. There are various different sizes of basketballs. Basketballs come in all different sizes for different age groups and genders. The most common basketball sizes are girls 28.5 and boys 29.5. These basketballs are used through the middle school to professional levels. As boys reach middle school they develop more and more upper body strength while girls do not. So that is where the differences between the girls and boys league start. The structure and rules of the games are similar but the pace and athleticism is different. Studies show that male and female athletes are motivated differently and respond better to different coaching. Elasticity is the tendency of a body to return to its original shape after it has been stretched or compressed. When a basketballs basketballs bounced to the ground the ball bounces back up. This occurs because of the elasticity collision that happens between the basketball and the ground. The air pressure of the ball affects the elasticity of the ball and the conservation of energy of the ball. So elasticity plays a role in my experiment.
References
What Are the Biggest Differences Between Girls' and Boys' High School Basketball?"LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
USA Basketball: Rules." USA Basketball: Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013
Abstract